Monday, November 14, 2016

How went your day?


My week is settling out well, but today did not have an awesome beginning. My Sunbeam toaster lever would not engage. Sunbeam, the brand of our mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers!

I had bread and butter for breakfast, not my usual warm, crunchy and evenly toasted slices of eight grain bread.

I met my accountant in town. She walks everywhere, and was walking down the library drive when I spotted her. We reset a cancelled appointment for this week. I went to work, then home for lunch before my card playing Monday afternoon.

When I opened the tap for water for coffee, there was no water. I called the office—it would be a ten minute problem. I left the coffee ready to add water, ate lunch, rinsed my hands with water from the fridge, and went to play cards with the Methodists.

Cards with the Methodists is a great start to the week. The Methodist church in town is dwindling in membership and decided to sponsor a weekly card session with anyone who wanted to play. 

Sadly, only four of us are at the table. As the only non-Methodist playing, I’ve felt a little guilty, and considered offering them an out if the three of them wanted to cut bait. But, I enjoy myself so much I haven’t put the offer on the table.

Today there were three of us. We played two fierce games that can only happen when too few players have engaged too often, recognize the bidding strategies of each other and set out to play tight, well bantered rounds. I lost the first game by two points and was devastatingly ahead when we had to call the second game for lack of time.

The best news is, in their current bulletin, Mother of Sorrows will be invited to join us.

Getting home before the school bus, I packed up my five month old toaster for return to the store tonight. I put water in the coffee reservoir and flipped the switch. Nothing. I tried an outlet further down the counter. Nothing. I went to the breaker box and located the outlets. The breaker wasn’t tripped, but I flipped it anyway. Nothing.

I moved an outlet closer to the sink, and tried resetting the GFI. Down at my toaster/coffee pot end of the counter, the coffee pot looked back with a red eye. Just for fun, I unbagged the Sunbeam and plugged it in.  The lever engaged and the warm smell of re-toasted bread crumbs wafted up. Trouble shooting electricity has never been my strong point.

Next time I will listen to Sunbeam at nine in the morning.





36 comments:

  1. THe GFI has got me several times. Fortunately Mrs.C always remembers to reset it.

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  2. I guess you had not tried any light switches that morning.
    Mother of Sorrows - is she that card shark from the House of the Rising Sun?

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  3. oh I read over this too fast - the ground fault protection was the problem - yeah that's easy to miss.

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  4. Cards with the Methodists is not a phrase I have heard before. Sounds interesting!

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  5. We have a GFI that does that occasionally.
    When my last toaster died I started making toast in a frying pan cowboy style and never bought another toaster.

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    1. I make toast on a Lodge griddle that sits over two stove eyes, and it's far better than the toaster kind. I fry it in butter, that's why :-)

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  6. Only thing I know about electricity is not to stick a safety pin in a socket.

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  7. Need you ask? Sunbeam made good and exciting motorcyles and cars he a few years ago...

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  8. Commiserations from a fellow toast-person. I start looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast the moment I finish today's. It's a good day when we have eggs and toast for supper.

    :)

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    1. We call that breakfast for supper. Yum.

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    2. Or, how about getting a crust two days in a row. Or, getting two crusts for one breakfast because the kid won't eat them. Talk about heaven.

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    3. Hari OM
      ..............mmmmmmmmmmmmmm I LOVE the 'heel' of the loaf!!!

      MoS is that pretty wee church on the main road in, isn't it? Should be a few card players there, you'd think! Glad the Beam shone Sun upon the 'lecky' trouble... even if it required the non-coffee to wake you up! YAM xx

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    4. Crusts, heels, whatever you want to call them - yes! Especially home made bread ...

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    5. When I made my toast today, I realized our toaster is a Sunbeam, too. :)

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  9. I'm glad that Sunbeam didn't let you down:-).

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  10. I am so very glad that the day turned around. Long may that happy state of affairs continue.

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  11. I would suggest getting the wiring checked at all your outlets, even the working ones. You want any problems fixed before the winter sets in.

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  12. P.S. my toaster has a lever that doesn't engage unless the appliance is switched on at the plug. It's a safety feature.

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  13. I think it is fun with who you play cards with. I love to play games like this, couldn't care less if I won. Might need to check out the Methodist churches here. Haven't had toast in years, now I want some!

    betty

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  14. How wonderful to find that you posted today. I am having a really tough time adjusting to life without media. The bloggers I follow are now doubly important.
    Re the Sunbeam toaster. A few years ago I went looking for a new toaster. Very limited selection. I wonder if you could find one now that is similar to yours? The old ones were better. I was some happy to know that yours isn't dead. We have a 35-year-old Kenmore stashed somewhere. Brown station-wagon color not so great. But it might still work when the newer ones have died! We like our toast, too. Especially with some of my own blueberry preserves. I hope the rest of your week goes as well as today---with no more scares.

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  15. We had a simular experience a few weeks ago we turned the light in the lounge room on nothing happened so thinking the globe had blown we changed it, hearing talking out the front went out to investigate and three guys were replacing our electric meter, well you never know what they are up to.
    Merle..............

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    1. You'd think they'd warn you beforehand if they are going to replace a meter, shabby of them to leave you without electricity and no warning.

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  16. I am an English muffin kinda girl in the morning and a cinnamon toast kinda girl just before bed! Glad it all got figured out by the end of the day ...

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  17. I'm glad the problem worked itself out but what is the GFI? and glad your toaster is still good since no one makes quality goods anymore in our throw away cheapest price culture.

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    1. Ground fault interrupter. I.e,, the outlet perceived a ground fault and tripped itself. I need to ask management to have a look. Like River, I don't like it.

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  18. While I'm not a Christian anymore, I grew up going to a Methodist church. Methodism is sort of strong here in the south, but I can't stand all these southern baptists which almost everyone seems to be on a pie chart.

    Methodists were generally fairly humble and reasonable, Southern Baptists are often hypocritical, judgmental, and talking reason to them is liking giving medicine to the dead. It isn't going to work. Now there's always exceptions to the rule but that's what I experienced

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    1. My friend said she tried their church and could not bear the unhappy hymns. I guess I need a peek in their hymnal.

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    2. I like hearing all those happy gospel songs by the black people in their churches in movies.

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  19. I don't know that I would have thought to move the appliances to other plug-ins! At least you don't have to send things back now. Whoa!!!

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  20. Damn that GFI. I can say that because I am not a Methodist.

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  21. I have had days like that. It seems like everything turns into a problem. All we can do is ride it out and hope tomorrow will be better.

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  22. Man, your day started off wrong, but in the end, it turned out okay.

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  23. Good detective work to get your coffee and toast. I'd like to join a Church for activities but skip the religion part x

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